The room fell into a pin-drop silence as they all gulped. Their instincts urged them to step away from Mary’s commanding presence.

“Stay,” Mary commanded, and a ripple of unseen power emanated from her, forcing them to freeze into place. It was a power unlike any other, and Ric surmised her sudden shift in demeanor had shocked them into compliance. Her gaze drifted back to Ric, but such feeble intimidation would never falter a demon king.

“They wanted to kill me. I killed them,” Ric shrugged.

“What?” Ravi yelled, then lowered his voice as everyone shushed him. “It’s not like I’m the only one with that doubt,” he muttered. “And we were supposed to voice it together.”

“Weren’t you trying to die?”

“What?” Ravi yelled once again, glancing around. “Oh, come on, that’s shocking.”

Mary signaled, and the two twins dragged Ravi out. “Wait! I want to know what’s happening.”

“So do we,” the twins complained, tying him up. “The sooner we restrain you, the sooner we can return.”

Lacking the basic knowledge of knots, they compensated with quantity over quality, but before they wrapped him up, the crowd dispersed, and Mary made her way towards them. “Oh, man! We missed it because of you,” they said, staring daggers at Ravi.

“Untie him,” said Mary.

“What? But we just tied him up,” the twins protested.

“There’s no need,” Ravi replied, relaxing his muscles as the ropes slid off.

The twins gaped at Ravi in disbelief, and he shrugged before addressing Mary. “Now you want to talk to me?”

“Who are you?” Mary inquires.

“From now on,” Ravi glanced at his forearm, “your disciple,” he smiled.

“Oh, great,” Mary grunted, motioning for the twins to tie him up again.

The twins exchanged confused glances between Mary and Ravi.

“Want me to teach you?” Ravi grinned.

Mary returned to Ric for a second round of scolding, with only a handful of members left inside the townhouse. “You are in deep trouble, young man,” Mary scolded.

“Young? I am older than you, bi—” Ric didn’t get to finish his sentence as Mary’s palm teleported onto his face. “Fu—” Another slap silenced him before he cursed.

The remaining members slipped out of the townhouse one by one before Mary redirected her fury toward them.

“Her shield is scary,” Lara whispered.

“She is even scarier,” Minotaur groaned, his head still aching from Mary’s previous assault. Neither Ric’s healing nor his supposedly indestructible bond had helped.

“You deserved it,” Lara scoffed.

“Lara and Minotaur,” Mary’s voice struck like thunder, freezing them both in place while the rest seized the opportunity and scattered far away. “Teach him all the chores and make sure he completes every single one by himself until I say otherwise.” They didn’t dare argue, their bodies bowing in submission. “As for your punishment.”

“What! That wasn’t our punishment,” they exclaimed, gaping at each other.

“Long face,” Minotaur taunted Lara.

“Arms,” Lara retorted.

“Stay together until you get over your differences,” Mary ordered, silencing further insults and protests.

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Debbie woke from her slumber, her vision obscured by two fangs dripping purple goop. “Ah...!” Debbie screamed, darting toward the door. Mary stepped on the snake’s tail as Debbie slipped out of the skin suit and stumbled toward the exit.

Lara and Minotaur step aside, making way for Debbie to roll out. Mary turns to Ric, her gaze boring into him, demanding that he heal Debbie. Only after another slap does he comply with the request.

“Why in the hell name can’t I heal her slaps?” Ric rubs his cheeks while Minotaur shrugs, sharing the same doubt. “My head still hurts,” he complains.

Bewildered by their appearances, Ric observes them for the first time.

The Minotaur, who chose the name himself “Minotaur” for some absurd reason, bonded with a bull in the worst possible way, resulting in massive arms with hooves, while the rest of his body remained human.

On the other hand, Lara experienced a slight anomaly. A bit too enamored with her bond, she memorized and adopted a horse's face.

“Choice or incompetence?” Ric asks with a frown.

“Choice,” Lara scoffs.

“Incompetence,” Minotaur shrugs. “My pride doesn’t allow me to lie, unlike some others.”

“It doesn’t let him think either,” Lara taunts.

“Heh!” Ric cracks his neck. “I don’t care either way. Where am I? And don’t feed me nonsense. I want a concise overview of everything that has transpired and is happening in this region.” Ric points at Minotaur.

Minotaur provides Ric with a brief rundown of the continent Saint and the basic systems in place. Lara adds several jabs and sly remarks, turning a short answer into a heap of information. All the while, Ric doesn’t understand why they don’t have any questions about his unrealistic doubts. Many alarm bells would have gone off at the first question if it were him. Seeing how they scrape by with such low levels of intelligence, he asks the question they should have asked long ago.

The terms “spirit tools,” “weapons,” and “spiritual form” were all unfamiliar to him. While he had heard of spirits and the concept of sacrificing one’s path to become a ghost, the idea seemed so absurd that he never delved into it any further.

What is the point in sacrificing one’s path, memories, and ambitions only to become a spirit confined to a specific location?

People claim they are immortal, but destroying the location, using their essence in an elixir, or subjecting them to spiritual attacks can kill or disperse them. In both cases, it results in death, not that they are considered alive in any sense of the word.

They can neither influence nor connect with another living being, which makes them worse than a rock, as they chose such a fate.

Despite not being an avid explorer, Ric found the idea of missing an entire continent to be unfathomable. Recognizing that humans might have a different perception and appreciation of time, he assumed that, in their terms, a continent could be vast. However, their magic system proved to be unique and unlike anything he had ever encountered or discovered before.

In his quest for power, Ric gathered information on racial abilities, mana, elements, singular focus points, and countless other systems. Each had its unique advantages and drawbacks, while the ambitious goblins experimented and sought to conquer them all.

If there were any techniques to establish a bond with any affinity, Ric believed he would have come across such information by now.

As far as Ric understood the process, everyone in Saint was human, but each person had a different bond. These bonds could range from animals, elements, concepts, or attributes. Once an individual chose a bond, they were doomed to be with it until death separated them.

Mythical creatures, such as dragons, were formed through a bond with a rare artifact, hence their obsession with hoarding valuable treasures.

Demons resulted from bonds with curses.

Fea, by their bond with knowledge, and so on.

“Despicable humans and their futile climb to power,” Ric snorts, trying to push away the unease creeping onto his back. The concepts sounded far-fetched yet eerily close to his own truths as many other questions evaded his mind.

Is this his old world or a new one?

If it is a new world, how come there are so many similarities?

Shouldn’t a new reality follow a different concept?

Sure, they were quite different, but once a power is broken down to its simplest form, both their worlds follow the same principle. Ric still didn’t want to believe he was somehow teleported to a new reality, because that made no sense.

If it turns out to be true, does that mean this is a new beginning or a continuation of his old life?

One scenario suggests immortality, while the other reeks of stupidity and mortality. If one can’t influence their old reality, reincarnation inexplicably falls under mortality.

“My body!” Ric grits his teeth. “I am going to kill that darn goblin.”

“Goblins!” Lara exclaimed, leaping into Minotaur’s arms.

“Heavy,” Minotaur grunted.

“How dare you?” Lara slapped Minotaur, and as he stumbled, she fell with him.

“What is wrong with you both?” The question caught them off guard, given the taboo nature of discussing such matters. After a brief shared glance, they decided to break the silence.

They doubted a tool spirit, endowed with his healing constitution, could ever lift a curse from the gods. Yet, in hushed tones, they conveyed the forbidden knowledge, hoping not to be caught by their clan’s tribulation. After all, there was no rule against confiding in a spirit.

“We messed up our semi-transformations when we were younger,” Lara began, her voice choked with emotion and tears filling her eyes. Minotaur nodded, patting her and picking up where she left off. “And now we’re stuck because of the Kennel Clause.”

“Not what I was referring to,” Ric furrows his brows. “But now that you mention it, that’s weird too.”

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